Sam & Dave complete tour on notoriously
bad terms with each other and split up for solo careers

20th March

Gene Pitney, Badfinger, Clodagh Rogers, Satisfaction
Johnny Hackett

2nd May

The Kinks, The Dave Clark Five, The Hollies,
Mark Wynter,
The Tremeloes, The Mojos

? May

Chuck Berry, The Swinging Blue Jeans, Manfred Mann

11th June

The Woody Herman Orchestra

29th October

Louis Arnstrong

8th November

The theatre is renamed “The Odeon”
Finsbury Park

11th December

The Beach Boys, The Flame

1971

14th August

The Byrds, Rita Coolidge

18th September

Closed as a cinema by Rank cinema organisation

The last films shown were “Gorgo” and “Twisted
Nerve”

Taken over by “Sundancer” consortium managed
by John Morris

The theatre is renamed “THE RAINBOW THEATRE”

4th - 6th

November

The Who, Quiver

The Who open the new Rainbow Theatre. A chorus
line of dancers precedes the show and Keith goes into the audience to yell
for The Who to come on. Pete wears a silver lamé jump suit with the
Rainbow Theatre logo on the back. At the end of the show the chorus line
comes back out and The Who join them for a few high kicks.

A benefit show to pay off the debts incurred
by the Glastonbury Fayre, now of course, better known as... The Glastonbury
Festival. It was in 1971 (the second Festival to be held at Worthy Farm)
that the first pyramid stage was constructed out of scaffolding and expanded
metal covered with plastic sheeting and built on a site above the Glastonbury
-Stonehenge ley line. The musicians who performed - including Hawkwind,
Traffic, Melanie, David Bowie, Joan Baez and Fairport Convention - were
recorded on a now exceedingly rare triple album while the festival was filmed
by a crew that included Nick Roeg and David Puttnam. Approximately 12,000
attended - for free... hence the benefit show at The Rainbow.

23rd /

24th November

Theodorakis conducts Theodorakis

26th November

Family,

Terry Reid, America

27th November

“Saturday Morning Pictures” featuring
Stray

a 10:00am concert

and in the evening

Fairport Convention

2nd - 4th December

Freddie King, The Grease Band,
Leon Russell, Beggars Opera

Bill Thorndycraft, Vocalist and Harp player
from Killing Floor recalls,
“A couple of years later when Freddie King was touring with Leon Russell’s
Shelter artistes, he was playing a few nights at the Rainbow theatre Finsbury
park where our ex-roadie Big
Pete Walters was the sound engineer. Freddie had spoke to Pete and had asked
after me and said he wanted me to go to the Rainbow on the last night to
play some blues Harp with
him. Unfortunately my mental health was poor at the time
and the next day Pete said Freddie had wanted me to jam
with him at the end of the show with Leon Russell, Eric
Clapton and a few other interesting people.This remains, one of
my biggest regrets in life

5th December

Al Green

8th December

Melanie

David Boldinger “a fan” recalls
“The first Melanie concert I attended was at the Rainbow in Finsbury
Park, which was about 3 or 4 miles from where I lived at the time. I had
a seat in the G-ds, (I'm Jewish, the '-' is an 'o'), which is up high
on the balcony. This was December 9th, 1971. I went with a mate from work.
The only concert I had been to before, was some 15 or so years earlier,
at the same venue or one near it, called the Empire, that was Diana Dors,
I was about 5 or 6 then! When Melanie walked all alone, in her Kaftan,
carrying her guitar to the plain wooden chair centre stage. My first thoughts
were how brave she was, one small girl for this great big audience. It
soon became obvious, she was in no danger, the audience was hers! Was
this the concert where the mic failed? I could just hear her, even from
where I was! The audience was absolutely silent! Melanie said that on
her way into the Rainbow, she heard the Salvation Army singing 'Oh, Come
All Ye Faithful'. I bought my copy of Gather Me' in the foyer there.”

10th /11th

December

Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention

The show on the 11th was cancelled due
to Trevor Howell, the jealous boyfriend of an ardentfemale Zappa fan, pushed
Zappa off stage into the orchestra pit. He breaks leg and ankle in several
places and suffers a fractured scull. Recuperation will involve nine months
in a wheelchair and three more in a surgical brace

15th December

Doris Troy, The Roy Young Band, Rufus Thomas

17th /18th

December

Joan Baez, Mimi Farina

19th December

Centipede, Patto, B.B.Blunder, Zoot Money

20th December

Joan Baez, Mimi Farina

22nd December

Lindisfarne

23rd December

Curved Air, Skid Row, The National Head Band,
Nick Pickett

26th December

Tyrannosaurus Rex

27th/28th - 3 shows, 2pm,5pm
& 8pm

29th/30th - 2 shows, 5pm & 8pm

27th -

31st

December

Chipperfield’s Circus

31st December

Jim Watson Tribute Night…*

*John Morris recently confirmed to me that
this New Years Eve show, which was to feature an all star band did not take
place.